The Organizing Committee of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic and Paralympic Games maneuvered its 2015 balance to hide a deficit amounting to R$ 129 million (US$ 35 million).

Through an accounting adjustment, the Organizing Committee delayed the transfer of funds that it had to make to the Brazilian Olympic Committee (BOC) to improve its accounts, which prevented it from registering losses that year.

The maneuver made the Organizing Committee end 2015 with a surplus of R$ 17 million (US$ 4.7 million).

The president of both agencies is the same: Carlos Arthur Nuzman. This is the first time in the history of the Olympic Games that the same person is the head of the two agencies.

Folha verified that there are sectors of the BOC that are annoyed as they did not receive the funds, which could have been used in the preparation of athletes for the Olympics to be held in August.

Although with different elements, the act is similar to the fiscal maneuvering that was used as grounds for the impeachment process that led to the removal of President Dilma Rousseff from office last month.

Economist Luis Paulo Rosenberg says that, in the case of the Olympic Games, it does not constitute a crime.

"The maneuver used is common in the private sector to produce positive balances," says Rosenberg. He says that it would be illegal if it were done in the public sector. However, the maneuver could be questioned by the confederations.

In a report disclosed in 2015, the Brazilian Federal Accountability Office (TCU) questioned Nuzman's double position: "We stress that the auditing team of this office already debated the inconvenience in Nuzman's having both aforementioned positions (...)."

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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